I am victorious!

With an record 5k time as an adult of 27:11, I finished 1st in the 30 - 39 year old category at the OPC 5K in Rochester today (28th overall). I received a nice Running Fit gift certificate for my efforts. For whatever reason, thirty-something males have not turned out in droves at the last two races I have participated in, allowing me to place 3rd last month and 1st today in my age group. I am unapologetic, as I will take what I can get. I never expected to place at all this year, so to do it twice is very encouraging!

As for the race, it was very nice. It was only $5 to run and included a bag and t-shirt. The run itself was downhill from the start to the Clinton River trail, about 1.3 miles down the trail and back again. I enjoy trail runs as it is nice to run on something other than concrete or asphalt.

The best thing I did today is pace myself. I had my Garmin GPS watch and decided that I wanted to run an average of 8:30/mile. First mile I was right on and ran just a bit slower the next 2 miles. This allowed me an experience that I haven't had much: passing people late in a race. It is much more encouraging to pass other runners than to be passed. I caught 5 or 6 runners in the last half of the race, including passing one (that I didn't think I could catch) right before the finish.

This puts me in a good position for the Open Door Julie Run in two weeks. I ran this race near 32 minutes a couple years back and would love to finish with a time that starts with 26. I've dropped most of my time goals as I was starting to worry about it too much, but this is something I really want to do.